is because No Child Left Behind sucks.
A strong opinion, I realize, but I really believe it to be true. I don't think that NCLB is a good use of resources when stronger education states already had state testing programs in place. It creates competition between elementary schools over test scores.
It also propogates shady activities that I won't get into.
It really pisses me off that Bush passes it off as 'what saved education.' That statement is a load of crap.
I became a teacher to educate children to the best of my ability, not to compete over test scores.
As you can tell, it wasn't a fun day today.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
As the first birthday approaches...
I thought it would be a good idea to throw Mark a first birthday party. I should really call it the snowball party. What was originally going to be a few people has snowballed into 35 to 45 people.
What's my secret? That while I am kinda whining about the preparations, I'm really excited. I'm excited to see everyone, I'm excited to see how happy Mark is, I'm excited to see how he reacts to birthday cake.
I really can't wait. The party is T minus 6 days and counting.
P.S. I have to shout out to B. You've helped me so much in putting this together with Phil gone, and I want to let you know that I'm grateful to have you as a friend.
What's my secret? That while I am kinda whining about the preparations, I'm really excited. I'm excited to see everyone, I'm excited to see how happy Mark is, I'm excited to see how he reacts to birthday cake.
I really can't wait. The party is T minus 6 days and counting.
P.S. I have to shout out to B. You've helped me so much in putting this together with Phil gone, and I want to let you know that I'm grateful to have you as a friend.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
You Can't Ever Go Back Home...
I realize that time marches on and communities change-- for God's sake, I have a B.A. in History. My bachelor's thesis is all about how Deadwood, S.D. changed from settlement through the first 30-ish years.
But I should start by saying that I have hometowns-- Lead and Deadwood, S.D. are so intertwined that I consider them both my hometowns. I was born in Deadwood, I grew up in Lead. We banked in Lead, we'd pay the electric bill in Deadwood. Grocery shopping was in Lead, the J.C. Penney was in Deadwood. And so on.
My dad worked at the gold mine in Lead. The 'high point' of the mine was in the '70s and '80s (go back to your Econ courses-- when the economy is good, commodities such as gold do badly-- but when the economy is bad, commodities do well). By the '90s, things weren't going so well. Deadwood was really struggling. The downtown was deteriorating and there were buildings that were vacant.
Then 'You Bet!' came in and proposed bringing legalized gambling to Deadwood. It passed and Deadwood became a boomtown again. Some tourists came back and were pissed that tacky, crumbling Deadwood was gone. Other folks came for the whole Dances with Wolves/Kevin Costner connection. But there were lots of tourists.
When I was in college, Deadwood was thriving. The buildings were being refurbished and it was fun again. I worked at the Bullock Hotel in the summers. When my husband and I were engaged, we stayed at the Branch House, and we rented out the entire Bullock Hotel for our wedding guests.
So when my mom offered to take care of Mark overnight so DH and I could get away, we decided to go to Deadwood and stay at the Branch House. We drove up in the middle of the week and planned to go skiing. Due to global warming, IMO, there was no skiing. So we decided to drive up through Spearfish Canyon and hang out in Deadwood.
Ick.
I walked past about three 70-year-olds (that I swear I recognized from my time working in Deadwood during college) sticking quarters into slot machines as I went to check in. (i.e., it was REALLLLY slow.) We settled into our room and went out to dinner.
Deadwood is a carnivore's or a buffet-lover's delight-- but we didn't want anything heavy and decided to go to an old favorite, Chinatown. We asked for a table (and I failed to notice that she didn't ask us about smoking or nonsmoking) and we were seated next to a table of roughly seven people that were ALL smoking. Empty restaurant, we're seated next to the only other table there, and they are chain smoking. So we stood up, walked to the hostess, explained the situation, and requested another table. She looked absolutely shocked at our chutzpah (I forget how 'assertive' I've become in relation to how I was in high school) but reseated us. The food was okay, but it was pretty dead.
After dinner, we walked up and down Main Street. I was showing DH where different things from the Deadwood series were located in real life (i.e. the original Saloon #10 location, the 'Badlands' district, the Gem theatre). We then realized that as we walked up and down the three blocks, it was us and the old people. And one family of five. I bet we passed eight people on Main Street. Total. The casinos held chain smoking 60 and 70-year-olds.
Depressed and disappointed, we went for a drive up to Lead. It was even more buttoned-up. I thought we might get a beer at the Stamp Mill or something, but it was closed as was everything else on Main Street. (I exaggerate-- I thing Subway and the gas station formerly a Common Cents were open.) So we went to the 'Mall.'
The Lead 'Mall' consists of a grocery store, an Alco, and a bowling alley. After taking a even more depressing turn through Alco (I stood in the beauty aisle and realized that it was where I spent my adolescence dreaming being pretty and how things would be better in the future-- everything is uphill after being in the Alco beauty aisle), we went to the bowling alley.
When we walked in, I recognized roughly half of the people there. Couldn't name all of them, but I recognized them. Phil and I bowled three frames and I came to some major life realizations.
1) My life turned out okay. I'd recently been thinking that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to not go to college so far away and settled in my hometown, married a nice local boy (there was one who would have been willing, I'm sure, from the look on his face when I introduced to my now-DH as my fiance), and had a family there. I wouldn't have been happy. I would have been scrounging by, not being able to afford necessities, and trying to scrape ahead since I didn't have the correct last name.
2) Lead and Deadwood have so much untapped potential. But they aren't cute like the towns in Colorado and they are gearing themselves toward people who like to drink and smoke and gamble. There is so much more to these towns then that.
So we finished our bowling, I paid and chatted with the cashier about Lead, and back to the Branch House we went. The highlight of the evening was watching The Family Stone on HBO. And The Family Stone is a train wreck of a movie, if that puts things into perspective.
The next morning, we ended up driving down Hwy. 385 in the Black Hills from Pluma (if you haven't driven through the Hills, you must put it on your before-you-die list, because it is awesome) down past Pactola Resevoir. Pactola is the water supply for Rapid City and it is so incredibly low that Rapid should be incredibly worried. Scary.
We then went down to Hill City. We came upon the PrairieBerry Winery and spent an enjoyable hour or so tasting and shopping. (We had fun-- the wine isn't that great, but what the heck, the tasting was free.) As we drove through Hill City, which is thriving-- fun shops downtown, lots of people out shopping-- I thought to myself that Deadwood/Lead is way off track. Hill City is much more fun than Lead/Deadwood, skanky wine and all.
So, my walk-away was that my hometown(s) is/are in trouble. I don't think that they are attracting the kind of tourists that will return again and again (70-year-olds eventually pass away) and they aren't family-friendly. Due to climate change, they don't have the snow that they used to have. And Lead is banking on a Neutrino lab that may or may not come, depending on Federal funding (and the U.S. has a big war to pay for).
I hope that the towns can ressurect themselves. But something's gotta change.
But I should start by saying that I have hometowns-- Lead and Deadwood, S.D. are so intertwined that I consider them both my hometowns. I was born in Deadwood, I grew up in Lead. We banked in Lead, we'd pay the electric bill in Deadwood. Grocery shopping was in Lead, the J.C. Penney was in Deadwood. And so on.
My dad worked at the gold mine in Lead. The 'high point' of the mine was in the '70s and '80s (go back to your Econ courses-- when the economy is good, commodities such as gold do badly-- but when the economy is bad, commodities do well). By the '90s, things weren't going so well. Deadwood was really struggling. The downtown was deteriorating and there were buildings that were vacant.
Then 'You Bet!' came in and proposed bringing legalized gambling to Deadwood. It passed and Deadwood became a boomtown again. Some tourists came back and were pissed that tacky, crumbling Deadwood was gone. Other folks came for the whole Dances with Wolves/Kevin Costner connection. But there were lots of tourists.
When I was in college, Deadwood was thriving. The buildings were being refurbished and it was fun again. I worked at the Bullock Hotel in the summers. When my husband and I were engaged, we stayed at the Branch House, and we rented out the entire Bullock Hotel for our wedding guests.
So when my mom offered to take care of Mark overnight so DH and I could get away, we decided to go to Deadwood and stay at the Branch House. We drove up in the middle of the week and planned to go skiing. Due to global warming, IMO, there was no skiing. So we decided to drive up through Spearfish Canyon and hang out in Deadwood.
Ick.
I walked past about three 70-year-olds (that I swear I recognized from my time working in Deadwood during college) sticking quarters into slot machines as I went to check in. (i.e., it was REALLLLY slow.) We settled into our room and went out to dinner.
Deadwood is a carnivore's or a buffet-lover's delight-- but we didn't want anything heavy and decided to go to an old favorite, Chinatown. We asked for a table (and I failed to notice that she didn't ask us about smoking or nonsmoking) and we were seated next to a table of roughly seven people that were ALL smoking. Empty restaurant, we're seated next to the only other table there, and they are chain smoking. So we stood up, walked to the hostess, explained the situation, and requested another table. She looked absolutely shocked at our chutzpah (I forget how 'assertive' I've become in relation to how I was in high school) but reseated us. The food was okay, but it was pretty dead.
After dinner, we walked up and down Main Street. I was showing DH where different things from the Deadwood series were located in real life (i.e. the original Saloon #10 location, the 'Badlands' district, the Gem theatre). We then realized that as we walked up and down the three blocks, it was us and the old people. And one family of five. I bet we passed eight people on Main Street. Total. The casinos held chain smoking 60 and 70-year-olds.
Depressed and disappointed, we went for a drive up to Lead. It was even more buttoned-up. I thought we might get a beer at the Stamp Mill or something, but it was closed as was everything else on Main Street. (I exaggerate-- I thing Subway and the gas station formerly a Common Cents were open.) So we went to the 'Mall.'
The Lead 'Mall' consists of a grocery store, an Alco, and a bowling alley. After taking a even more depressing turn through Alco (I stood in the beauty aisle and realized that it was where I spent my adolescence dreaming being pretty and how things would be better in the future-- everything is uphill after being in the Alco beauty aisle), we went to the bowling alley.
When we walked in, I recognized roughly half of the people there. Couldn't name all of them, but I recognized them. Phil and I bowled three frames and I came to some major life realizations.
1) My life turned out okay. I'd recently been thinking that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to not go to college so far away and settled in my hometown, married a nice local boy (there was one who would have been willing, I'm sure, from the look on his face when I introduced to my now-DH as my fiance), and had a family there. I wouldn't have been happy. I would have been scrounging by, not being able to afford necessities, and trying to scrape ahead since I didn't have the correct last name.
2) Lead and Deadwood have so much untapped potential. But they aren't cute like the towns in Colorado and they are gearing themselves toward people who like to drink and smoke and gamble. There is so much more to these towns then that.
So we finished our bowling, I paid and chatted with the cashier about Lead, and back to the Branch House we went. The highlight of the evening was watching The Family Stone on HBO. And The Family Stone is a train wreck of a movie, if that puts things into perspective.
The next morning, we ended up driving down Hwy. 385 in the Black Hills from Pluma (if you haven't driven through the Hills, you must put it on your before-you-die list, because it is awesome) down past Pactola Resevoir. Pactola is the water supply for Rapid City and it is so incredibly low that Rapid should be incredibly worried. Scary.
We then went down to Hill City. We came upon the PrairieBerry Winery and spent an enjoyable hour or so tasting and shopping. (We had fun-- the wine isn't that great, but what the heck, the tasting was free.) As we drove through Hill City, which is thriving-- fun shops downtown, lots of people out shopping-- I thought to myself that Deadwood/Lead is way off track. Hill City is much more fun than Lead/Deadwood, skanky wine and all.
So, my walk-away was that my hometown(s) is/are in trouble. I don't think that they are attracting the kind of tourists that will return again and again (70-year-olds eventually pass away) and they aren't family-friendly. Due to climate change, they don't have the snow that they used to have. And Lead is banking on a Neutrino lab that may or may not come, depending on Federal funding (and the U.S. has a big war to pay for).
I hope that the towns can ressurect themselves. But something's gotta change.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Unfinished Things
I don't accomplish all that I set out to do. Just ask my DH. I have drawers full of unfinished assorted crafty-ness upstairs. (I am not allowing myself to buy new stuff until I finish some of the freakin' stuff taking up space. Unless I need something to finish it. Or if I need more to complete a set. But pretty much, I've cut myself off.)
It makes me crazy sometimes. I have stacks of stuff, cluttering counters. My poor DH will go through stuff (invariably when I'm busy cooking, or feeding Mark, or blogging) and ask what I want done with this or that bit of clutter. I freak out, telling him not to touch that, I need to go through that, I'll take care of it when I'm done cooking/feeding Mark/blogging. Do I? Not usually.
Which makes it weird that I've recently accomplished a lot. For example, our kitchen/dining room has been 75% painted for months. Going around the cabinets is tough, but not so tough that I should have waited this long. So this morning when Mark went down for a nap, I pulled out the paint and went at it. It's done now.
I feel like I'm actually accomplishing stuff. I finished one craft project (well the major portion of it, it isn't completely finished) and I'm close to finishing another.
I still have my piles of stuff. But it feels good to complete some things.
It makes me crazy sometimes. I have stacks of stuff, cluttering counters. My poor DH will go through stuff (invariably when I'm busy cooking, or feeding Mark, or blogging) and ask what I want done with this or that bit of clutter. I freak out, telling him not to touch that, I need to go through that, I'll take care of it when I'm done cooking/feeding Mark/blogging. Do I? Not usually.
Which makes it weird that I've recently accomplished a lot. For example, our kitchen/dining room has been 75% painted for months. Going around the cabinets is tough, but not so tough that I should have waited this long. So this morning when Mark went down for a nap, I pulled out the paint and went at it. It's done now.
I feel like I'm actually accomplishing stuff. I finished one craft project (well the major portion of it, it isn't completely finished) and I'm close to finishing another.
I still have my piles of stuff. But it feels good to complete some things.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Laughter and a Sweet Tea Shower
I miss my friends. As in really miss my friends. I met them through my workplace and they are awesome people to work with, but nothing beats when we just hang out together.
We always seem to kick up the excitement a notch when we're together. If you see three women sitting together, howling with laughter (the beer-squirts-out-your-nose kind of laughter) then that is probably us.
We've had some interesting experiences-- almost melting into a puddle in a pretzel factory in July, having to restrain one of us from sticking their head in a chocolate fountain (not me! It was L.!), dining at La Fleur (to be pronounced with an extremely exaggerated French accent), trying to convince one of us that a bag of oregano was really Mary Jane, and too many other things to list.
Tonight it was the three of us and the baby. We went to a fun little Mexican restaurant to exchange Christmas gifts. We ate (yum), we opened (I almost cried at the thoughtfulness), and we laughed.
Then my son was passed to Nanny. He decided it would be fun to grab the straw in my freshly filled extra large sweet tea. Nanny got a shower of sweet tea. It was incredibly funny (in retrospect-- I'm still trying to get over my embarrassment regarding normal baby things that really are funny but socially unacceptable).
I had a great time. But I miss them already. I wish we had nights like this more often.
We always seem to kick up the excitement a notch when we're together. If you see three women sitting together, howling with laughter (the beer-squirts-out-your-nose kind of laughter) then that is probably us.
We've had some interesting experiences-- almost melting into a puddle in a pretzel factory in July, having to restrain one of us from sticking their head in a chocolate fountain (not me! It was L.!), dining at La Fleur (to be pronounced with an extremely exaggerated French accent), trying to convince one of us that a bag of oregano was really Mary Jane, and too many other things to list.
Tonight it was the three of us and the baby. We went to a fun little Mexican restaurant to exchange Christmas gifts. We ate (yum), we opened (I almost cried at the thoughtfulness), and we laughed.
Then my son was passed to Nanny. He decided it would be fun to grab the straw in my freshly filled extra large sweet tea. Nanny got a shower of sweet tea. It was incredibly funny (in retrospect-- I'm still trying to get over my embarrassment regarding normal baby things that really are funny but socially unacceptable).
I had a great time. But I miss them already. I wish we had nights like this more often.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Denver, Denver, Denver
When we flew to my parents, we went through Denver. We were incredibly nervous about getting stuck.
We got to the airport out here, and we checked in online beforehad to make sure we'd have boarding passes. We checked three pieces of luggage-- duffels for DH and me and Mark's carseat. They were looking for volunteers for bumps when we waited in the gate area (two roundtrips and the best seats available on the next flight-- my mom would have killed me, though). We got into Denver and holy buckets-- the moving walkways had people leaning against them the entire length of the terminal.
We got to our gate in Denver and saw that the 6:30 flight to Rapid was just leaving at 8:45. This made me worried because our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00. Mark was fussy (not feeling well) and I didn't want to sit for over two hours with a baby up way past his bedtime. Our flight was not listed. All of a sudden, our flight was being called. We hustled to our plane and were surprised at the open seats. We sat (!) for what seemed like an hour and then took off.
We got into Rapid at roughly 11:20 pm. We got our duffels and... no carseat! After waiting in line for a half hour, we discovered that the carseat was safely in... Denver. I asked the rep what I was going to do and he first said that they had loaner carseats. But ooops! They were all gone. And gee, he had no idea what I should do. I then called the hospital for a loaner. No loaner. I called the police for a loaner. They called the airport fire department to see if they had a loaner (uh, okay...). No loaner. The police could take Mark to our hotel, but we'd probably have to wait for 60-90 minutes. So the police told me to go to the 24-hour Wal-Mart. (Happy Holidays from Rapid City.)
We finally got to the hotel at about 1:30 and the hotel desk clerk had saved up all of her venom just for us-- she leered at us as we walked in and we stated that we had already checked in. She made a snotty comment back about how she knew everyone was already checked in and I responded that we'd just arrived from Denver (i.e. back off, wench).
We got to the room and discovered that the double queen room we reserved was, a single king room with a hide-a-bed. So off DH marched to deal with venomous wenchy desk clerk (who chose to argue with him-- her mistake!) and we soon had our double queen room. Bedtime was at 2:30 am. (Local time, 4:30 am here.)
Fortunately, the trip got much better from there. We enjoyed our time in Wyoming and South Dakota, for the most part (more on my experiences in my dying hometown in a future post). Mark was appropriately spoiled by grandma. We were appropriately spoiled with free babysitting.
Fun trip. Except for Carolyn, the wickedest desk clerk in the West.
We got to the airport out here, and we checked in online beforehad to make sure we'd have boarding passes. We checked three pieces of luggage-- duffels for DH and me and Mark's carseat. They were looking for volunteers for bumps when we waited in the gate area (two roundtrips and the best seats available on the next flight-- my mom would have killed me, though). We got into Denver and holy buckets-- the moving walkways had people leaning against them the entire length of the terminal.
We got to our gate in Denver and saw that the 6:30 flight to Rapid was just leaving at 8:45. This made me worried because our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00. Mark was fussy (not feeling well) and I didn't want to sit for over two hours with a baby up way past his bedtime. Our flight was not listed. All of a sudden, our flight was being called. We hustled to our plane and were surprised at the open seats. We sat (!) for what seemed like an hour and then took off.
We got into Rapid at roughly 11:20 pm. We got our duffels and... no carseat! After waiting in line for a half hour, we discovered that the carseat was safely in... Denver. I asked the rep what I was going to do and he first said that they had loaner carseats. But ooops! They were all gone. And gee, he had no idea what I should do. I then called the hospital for a loaner. No loaner. I called the police for a loaner. They called the airport fire department to see if they had a loaner (uh, okay...). No loaner. The police could take Mark to our hotel, but we'd probably have to wait for 60-90 minutes. So the police told me to go to the 24-hour Wal-Mart. (Happy Holidays from Rapid City.)
We finally got to the hotel at about 1:30 and the hotel desk clerk had saved up all of her venom just for us-- she leered at us as we walked in and we stated that we had already checked in. She made a snotty comment back about how she knew everyone was already checked in and I responded that we'd just arrived from Denver (i.e. back off, wench).
We got to the room and discovered that the double queen room we reserved was, a single king room with a hide-a-bed. So off DH marched to deal with venomous wenchy desk clerk (who chose to argue with him-- her mistake!) and we soon had our double queen room. Bedtime was at 2:30 am. (Local time, 4:30 am here.)
Fortunately, the trip got much better from there. We enjoyed our time in Wyoming and South Dakota, for the most part (more on my experiences in my dying hometown in a future post). Mark was appropriately spoiled by grandma. We were appropriately spoiled with free babysitting.
Fun trip. Except for Carolyn, the wickedest desk clerk in the West.
Happy New Year
Hello again, and Happy New Year!!!
We're back from our holiday travels. We had a good time, and I will blog about it in future posts.
It is New Year's Day, and it is time for resolutions.
1) I am going to forgive myself for grieving my pre-baby life. It's okay to miss the freedom that I had before. I'm going to cut myself slack for being angry and sad that being a parent entails more responsibility than I had anticipated.
2) I am going to allow myself to feel beautiful. The aforementioned responsibilities will always be there. I feel more confident and happy when I am taking care of myself. I plan to stop going to work with dripping hair and no makeup.
3) I am going to work on making the house into the place we want to live. I learned a big lesson when my parents sold my childhood home. As my folks prepared their house for sale, they made it look great. They were sad that they had never enjoyed the improvements that they made. I plan on working with my DH to make this place into the oasis we want it to be.
4) I plan to carve out time for my friends. While my friends have been understanding of my mommy-transition, I want to spend time more time with them this year.
5) I plan to tackle the clutter that takes over my home and my classroom. I need to plan for clutter control and take charge of my piles of stuff.
6) I want to blog more. I think about blogging more than I actually do. I'm going to hit the keyboard this year!
Well, I think I've laid out enough resolutions to tackle this year. Happy New Year, and I wish the best to you in 2007!
We're back from our holiday travels. We had a good time, and I will blog about it in future posts.
It is New Year's Day, and it is time for resolutions.
1) I am going to forgive myself for grieving my pre-baby life. It's okay to miss the freedom that I had before. I'm going to cut myself slack for being angry and sad that being a parent entails more responsibility than I had anticipated.
2) I am going to allow myself to feel beautiful. The aforementioned responsibilities will always be there. I feel more confident and happy when I am taking care of myself. I plan to stop going to work with dripping hair and no makeup.
3) I am going to work on making the house into the place we want to live. I learned a big lesson when my parents sold my childhood home. As my folks prepared their house for sale, they made it look great. They were sad that they had never enjoyed the improvements that they made. I plan on working with my DH to make this place into the oasis we want it to be.
4) I plan to carve out time for my friends. While my friends have been understanding of my mommy-transition, I want to spend time more time with them this year.
5) I plan to tackle the clutter that takes over my home and my classroom. I need to plan for clutter control and take charge of my piles of stuff.
6) I want to blog more. I think about blogging more than I actually do. I'm going to hit the keyboard this year!
Well, I think I've laid out enough resolutions to tackle this year. Happy New Year, and I wish the best to you in 2007!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Just when I thought all was calm...
It snowed in the WRONG PLACE!!! We wanted snow in the BLACK HILLS of SOUTH DAKOTA, not in DENVER!!! (Yes, I realize that I'm yelling! I mean to yell right now!)
I'm most upset that Denver (hi people, you live at a mile-high altitude-- you should be READY FOR SNOW) has shut down their airport for the last 1 1/2 days. I want to go and be with my family. That currently requires me to go through Denver. About 24 hours after the airport reopens.
DH and I have been on the desktop and laptop, respectively, in a vain attempt to find a way to circumnavigate this mess. No luck, so now we're adding a call to United (which I'm sure will be routed to India) to it all.
Oh-- as we've dug around a bit, we've discovered that we can get to Denver, but can't get from Denver to the Black Hills. And India keeps hanging up on us. Yay.
Happy holidays!
Updated to add: I love my Dad. He offered to drive down to Denver to pick us up. Life is good. Well, pretty good.
I'm most upset that Denver (hi people, you live at a mile-high altitude-- you should be READY FOR SNOW) has shut down their airport for the last 1 1/2 days. I want to go and be with my family. That currently requires me to go through Denver. About 24 hours after the airport reopens.
DH and I have been on the desktop and laptop, respectively, in a vain attempt to find a way to circumnavigate this mess. No luck, so now we're adding a call to United (which I'm sure will be routed to India) to it all.
Oh-- as we've dug around a bit, we've discovered that we can get to Denver, but can't get from Denver to the Black Hills. And India keeps hanging up on us. Yay.
Happy holidays!
Updated to add: I love my Dad. He offered to drive down to Denver to pick us up. Life is good. Well, pretty good.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
And soon... we're off!
Time is passing by more quickly by the minute, it seems. We're getting busier and busier. However, we are trying to savor the little things that make the Christmas season fun. Tonight, it was attending the Christmas program in which my students performed. It was fun and it definitely helped us to get into the holiday spirit!
We're praying for snow in the Black Hills so we can ski when we're back there for Christmas, but it's not looking promising. We're unhappy that we won't be able to use our new skis-- disappointing, because I'd really like to break in my new boots. (We bought skis and boom! I got pregnant! I've been waiting 18 months to use these puppies!)
Anyway, we're soon off to visit the first time grandparents in Wyoming. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy the holidays with your friends and family! Seasons greetings from AAK!
We're praying for snow in the Black Hills so we can ski when we're back there for Christmas, but it's not looking promising. We're unhappy that we won't be able to use our new skis-- disappointing, because I'd really like to break in my new boots. (We bought skis and boom! I got pregnant! I've been waiting 18 months to use these puppies!)
Anyway, we're soon off to visit the first time grandparents in Wyoming. I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again.
Merry Christmas! Enjoy the holidays with your friends and family! Seasons greetings from AAK!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Social life, smocial life
Mike left a tantalizing comment on my last post. It's something that I've thought about a lot-- in fact, it was something that my husband and I talked about at great length during the time leading up to my pregnancy.
Here's (my interpretation) of the issue: When you choose to have a child, you step up and parent. Yes, you lose your social life, you piss off your co-workers when you MUST leave to pick up the child from daycare, you lose your hobbies, and your relationship with your partner is strained as you both find your new equilibrium. (At least, that's MY experience as a new parent.)
As a teacher, I have clucked in judgement about many a parent and their messed-up priorities. I've experienced the parent that chaperones the field trip only to talk on his cell phone the entire time. I've waited for 90 minutes after school with a child whose parent was not at the bus stop and failed to realize that school is over. I've been on another field trip where a parent took off with his child and another child in a major metropolitan city. I've developed ways to get messages to a parent whose child has seriously violent episodes at school, and the parent in turn avoids me.
I'm not to the point of parenting a school-age child, but I find that I'm softening a bit and becoming a little more understanding. I think our societal expectations of the family and community have really changed, which is what I attempted to address in the 'My Social Life is Nearly Dead' post. I find that some of my friends expect me to carry on with my pre-baby status quo. My husband, who travels extensively for his job, doesn't understand why I compare myself to a single parent. My co-workers demand a reason for why I have to leave right after school.
I can't drop Mark off at my sister's house or my mom's house. I don't feel comfortable dropping Mark off at my friends' homes while I take care of errands, etc., because Mark is my responsibility. I feel like I don't have the family support that my folks had while I was growing up while it feels like my responsibilities are greater than those that my parents faced.
What I'm getting to is that I don't know where MY equilibrium lies quite yet. I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility that I bit off by becoming a parent in our situation. I really enjoy working-- but there are times when I wonder if being a stay-at-home mom would be a better gig. I don't want to shirk the responsibilities that I chose to take on by becoming a parent. However, I don't want to lose my friends, my marriage, and myself in the process.
Am I doing a good job? I really don't know. I'm just trying to do the best I can in my situation.
I'm also hoping that by overpaying the babysitter, that I can carve out a little bit of time for my friends, my husband, and me.
Don't get me wrong-- I love being Mark's mom. He's truly an awesome kid-- the way he crinkles his nose when he's being mischevious, how he giggles and crawls away from me, how he pretends like his toddler car is revving, and how he problem-solves to take things apart. My mistake was that I truly did not imagine, despite what other parents told me, how difficult it would be.
Would I do it all over again? Probably. ;)
Here's (my interpretation) of the issue: When you choose to have a child, you step up and parent. Yes, you lose your social life, you piss off your co-workers when you MUST leave to pick up the child from daycare, you lose your hobbies, and your relationship with your partner is strained as you both find your new equilibrium. (At least, that's MY experience as a new parent.)
As a teacher, I have clucked in judgement about many a parent and their messed-up priorities. I've experienced the parent that chaperones the field trip only to talk on his cell phone the entire time. I've waited for 90 minutes after school with a child whose parent was not at the bus stop and failed to realize that school is over. I've been on another field trip where a parent took off with his child and another child in a major metropolitan city. I've developed ways to get messages to a parent whose child has seriously violent episodes at school, and the parent in turn avoids me.
I'm not to the point of parenting a school-age child, but I find that I'm softening a bit and becoming a little more understanding. I think our societal expectations of the family and community have really changed, which is what I attempted to address in the 'My Social Life is Nearly Dead' post. I find that some of my friends expect me to carry on with my pre-baby status quo. My husband, who travels extensively for his job, doesn't understand why I compare myself to a single parent. My co-workers demand a reason for why I have to leave right after school.
I can't drop Mark off at my sister's house or my mom's house. I don't feel comfortable dropping Mark off at my friends' homes while I take care of errands, etc., because Mark is my responsibility. I feel like I don't have the family support that my folks had while I was growing up while it feels like my responsibilities are greater than those that my parents faced.
What I'm getting to is that I don't know where MY equilibrium lies quite yet. I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility that I bit off by becoming a parent in our situation. I really enjoy working-- but there are times when I wonder if being a stay-at-home mom would be a better gig. I don't want to shirk the responsibilities that I chose to take on by becoming a parent. However, I don't want to lose my friends, my marriage, and myself in the process.
Am I doing a good job? I really don't know. I'm just trying to do the best I can in my situation.
I'm also hoping that by overpaying the babysitter, that I can carve out a little bit of time for my friends, my husband, and me.
Don't get me wrong-- I love being Mark's mom. He's truly an awesome kid-- the way he crinkles his nose when he's being mischevious, how he giggles and crawls away from me, how he pretends like his toddler car is revving, and how he problem-solves to take things apart. My mistake was that I truly did not imagine, despite what other parents told me, how difficult it would be.
Would I do it all over again? Probably. ;)
Saturday, December 16, 2006
We survived...
We went out. We ate. He drank. We laughed. I never took my mind off of the boy. We decided that we'd been gone long enough and decided to come home.
The boy normally goes to bed between 8 and 8:30. When we arrived at home at 9:30, he was still in the babysitter's arms with a tear in his eye.
It was hard to be gone tonight. I think it was good for all of us, though.
The boy normally goes to bed between 8 and 8:30. When we arrived at home at 9:30, he was still in the babysitter's arms with a tear in his eye.
It was hard to be gone tonight. I think it was good for all of us, though.
My Social Life is Nearly Dead
I live halfway across the U.S. from the bulk of my family. The relative that lives closest to me is roughly a 12-hour drive away. I don't have relatives that I can just swing by and drop Mark off with.
So, I normally take my son with me when I go somewhere. I've never had him with a sitter-- not on purpose, but it just seemed like so much trouble to set up and I didn't have anyone that I trusted to leave the little stinker with. (Especially because my child is a very. active. child.)
Tonight, I'm leaving the bambino with a sitter during my work Christmas party. I'm excited that I'll have a few hours to relax and be an adult without having to constantly be watching and listening for his location and choice of mischief.
Last night, I had an event as well. It was low-key, a small group of my co-workers and spouses at a co-worker's house. She repeatedly assured me that it was okay for me to bring Mark. I was very hesitant, but my husband came back into town and I felt pretty comfortable once I knew I wouldn't be 'on' the whole time.
We arrived at the party (late, of course. Said child got hungry and had a diaper just as we attempted to leave.) and got comfortable. Adult drinks, non-work related conversation-- all was good. Until my son saw a glass of red wine within his reach. Of course it landed on an Oriental rug. I really tried to have a good time after that, but I totally felt preoccupied about what my son was going to throw/dump/bang on next.
So, I'm hoping that I can go and have a good time tonight. I really want to relax and have fun. We'll see how it goes.
So, I normally take my son with me when I go somewhere. I've never had him with a sitter-- not on purpose, but it just seemed like so much trouble to set up and I didn't have anyone that I trusted to leave the little stinker with. (Especially because my child is a very. active. child.)
Tonight, I'm leaving the bambino with a sitter during my work Christmas party. I'm excited that I'll have a few hours to relax and be an adult without having to constantly be watching and listening for his location and choice of mischief.
Last night, I had an event as well. It was low-key, a small group of my co-workers and spouses at a co-worker's house. She repeatedly assured me that it was okay for me to bring Mark. I was very hesitant, but my husband came back into town and I felt pretty comfortable once I knew I wouldn't be 'on' the whole time.
We arrived at the party (late, of course. Said child got hungry and had a diaper just as we attempted to leave.) and got comfortable. Adult drinks, non-work related conversation-- all was good. Until my son saw a glass of red wine within his reach. Of course it landed on an Oriental rug. I really tried to have a good time after that, but I totally felt preoccupied about what my son was going to throw/dump/bang on next.
So, I'm hoping that I can go and have a good time tonight. I really want to relax and have fun. We'll see how it goes.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Random Holiday Observations
My son does not like his hat and mittens-- but I think that they are really cute.
Making no-bake cookies for my Cookie Exchanges saves me a lot of time and keeps peace with my DH. (I'm making 17 dozen cookies-- I'm a masochist for choosing to join two different exchanges.)
There is no possible way that I can complete all of the tasks that I have laid out for myself. Especially because I'm flying solo next week-- DH is gone tomorrow through Friday night.
Shopping at off-hours keeps me from cussing out the humanity that surrounds me.
While I normally like to make my Christmas cards, I am crying 'uncle' this year. My holiday letter is also very short-- but heavy on baby pictures. (The pictures are what most people like to see, right?)
My classroom looks like a disaster area-- but it's not hurting anybody and I'm okay with that.
Life is interesting right now because my son is now able to escape the ExerSaucer, can climb up our stairs (thank you, DH, for teaching him said task-- can you hear my sarcasm?), and knows how to maneuver the baby-gate free obstacle courses that once worked. Walking is just around the corner, and I'm scared. Really scared.
My son doesn't fuss as I put ornaments and lights on the Christmas tree, but freaks out when I try to wrap presents.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
The First Haircut (i.e. Why My Son Has the Haircut I Wanted to Avoid)
I hate the standard baby boy haircut. Seriously. It looks like people put the bowl on their head and cut anything that hangs visible.
Then I took Mark to get his first haircut. It went reasonably well, at first. (I have video of the first 60 seconds or so. Then nothing.) The scissors part went okay, except that he wanted to watch the scissors. So the hair stylist brought out the electric clippers.
I thought it would go well when the stylist let Mark put his hand on the clippers to let him feel the buzzing sensation. Then she started cutting, and my son freaked out. We had screaming, thrashing, tears, louder screaming, and more thrashing. I had to attempt to pin him down by holding him close to my body and holding his head down in my hand. (Yes, I was nearly crying by the end.)
So my son has the bowl haircut. And I don't like it. But I accept it.
Then I took Mark to get his first haircut. It went reasonably well, at first. (I have video of the first 60 seconds or so. Then nothing.) The scissors part went okay, except that he wanted to watch the scissors. So the hair stylist brought out the electric clippers.
I thought it would go well when the stylist let Mark put his hand on the clippers to let him feel the buzzing sensation. Then she started cutting, and my son freaked out. We had screaming, thrashing, tears, louder screaming, and more thrashing. I had to attempt to pin him down by holding him close to my body and holding his head down in my hand. (Yes, I was nearly crying by the end.)
So my son has the bowl haircut. And I don't like it. But I accept it.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Traveling with kids can bite...
Julia at Here Be Hippogriffs has an absolutely awful, yet enthralling account of how traveling with kids can turn into hell when you're at the mercy of the airline industry. I couldn't resist and posted a comment under 'kmr' in the comments section. It's like I say about being a teacher-- I'm not clever enough to make this sh*t up.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Turkey, then sadness
We went back to Minnesota for a week. It was nice to see family, and I really can't complain about the visit. Mark was happy to get a great deal of attention but was less than happy to sleep in a strange house. Overall, it was a good, uneventful trip.
Then we came home.
First, I found out that the mother of my friend, the P.E. teacher had passed away.
When I called my person on the school telephone tree, I found out that the mother of our Media specialist is not doing well.
Then we found out that the good friend of my brother- and sister-in-law, with whom we had just celebrated Thanksgiving, had a heart attack. (Beware, women: pain radiating up the arm into the jaw can mean BAD things.)
Tonight as I was reading my hometown newspaper on the web, I saw that a good family friend had passed away.
Telling my dad that his friend passed away was awful.
Not the way I envisioned kicking off the holidays.
Then we came home.
First, I found out that the mother of my friend, the P.E. teacher had passed away.
When I called my person on the school telephone tree, I found out that the mother of our Media specialist is not doing well.
Then we found out that the good friend of my brother- and sister-in-law, with whom we had just celebrated Thanksgiving, had a heart attack. (Beware, women: pain radiating up the arm into the jaw can mean BAD things.)
Tonight as I was reading my hometown newspaper on the web, I saw that a good family friend had passed away.
Telling my dad that his friend passed away was awful.
Not the way I envisioned kicking off the holidays.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The 3 R's must die
I am a teacher. I teach third grade, and I'm certified as a general classroom teacher in addition to having reading specialist certification.
I am not, however, a fan of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. I truly think that the sense of developmental appropriateness and creativity has been beaten out of the curriculum. In addition, I believe that teachers are so overwhelmed and harried that they are set up to not do a very good job.
Therefore, I read with great delight this article on cnn.com.
I believe that Americans are innovators. I also think that we need to embrace creativity and foster a culture of lifelong learning. Let's step out of the standardized testing box and really teach-- not to score well on the yearly test, but to help kids discover the world around them.
I am not, however, a fan of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. I truly think that the sense of developmental appropriateness and creativity has been beaten out of the curriculum. In addition, I believe that teachers are so overwhelmed and harried that they are set up to not do a very good job.
Therefore, I read with great delight this article on cnn.com.
I believe that Americans are innovators. I also think that we need to embrace creativity and foster a culture of lifelong learning. Let's step out of the standardized testing box and really teach-- not to score well on the yearly test, but to help kids discover the world around them.
Monday, November 13, 2006
The relaxing effects of vacation, gone in mere hours
We had a lovely weekend in Maine. We woke up in New Hampshire (crisp morning! fallen leaves! steaming coffee! doesn't get any better!) and made our way up to Maine-- straight to Freeport. For those of you not in the know, it is the home of outlets done right. As in outlets, sans mall. There are just quaint little converted hometown America downtown businesses and homes and three ginormous L.L. Bean stores. It was fun-- we even had lunch at a hometown-y pizza joint.
We then had a great time the next day-- lunch at Big G's (I highly recommend the Avacado Monteban and the peanut butter whoopie pie) and an afternoon at the day spa. Once beautiful and relaxed, it was back for a delicious homemade dinner and the Wizard of Oz on tbs.
Then it was time to go. Off we went, wishing we could stay longer.
What awaited us? The TSA gauntlet from Dante's Inferno, waiting for a late plane with a hyper infant, and being so tired that I forgot to pick up our older car from my school last night. Only to get a call from the sheriff's office this morning that the back window had been smashed out and that we needed to come inspect it to see if anything had been stolen.
We need another vacation. Thank goodness I only have to wait until Saturday.
We then had a great time the next day-- lunch at Big G's (I highly recommend the Avacado Monteban and the peanut butter whoopie pie) and an afternoon at the day spa. Once beautiful and relaxed, it was back for a delicious homemade dinner and the Wizard of Oz on tbs.
Then it was time to go. Off we went, wishing we could stay longer.
What awaited us? The TSA gauntlet from Dante's Inferno, waiting for a late plane with a hyper infant, and being so tired that I forgot to pick up our older car from my school last night. Only to get a call from the sheriff's office this morning that the back window had been smashed out and that we needed to come inspect it to see if anything had been stolen.
We need another vacation. Thank goodness I only have to wait until Saturday.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
He's got timing
At the end of September, we took a weekend trip on which Mark got sick. This past weekend was take two.
We went down to Williamsburg to do some outlet shopping and to meet with our financial advisor-- and Mark got sick on the way down. Traffic was bad in West Point, VA (been to West Point? It seems like it's population 200-- but they are constructing a new bridge that stopped traffic for what had to be two miles. The two vehicles in front of us actually got in an accident-- sorry to the Saturn that hit the Beemer...) and Mark started screaming mid-traffic jam.
When we got to the outlet mall, Phil saw a spot open up and zipped in. Unfortunately, there had been two ladies in two different vehicles waiting for the same spot-- who we honestly didn't see. They proceeded to stop and berate us for our rudeness.
Then we started shopping and Mark was not happy with his stroller. The whining in LL Bean turned to crying in Gap (and everything echoes in a Gap outlet) which turned to full screaming and body flailing in Ralph Lauren.
We made our hasty exit to get down to our hotel room-- where Mark power-napped for two hours, screamed for two, restlessly napped for two, screamed for two, and so on. What we needed was Baby Vicks (had it but in the frustration didn't remember it) and a humidifier (I don't believe that humidifiers are amenities offered by the front desk).
We came home yesterday. Since he was at home, the night went better, right? Ha, ha. We actually called our health care's 24 hour nurse hotline at 3:15 A.M.
Thank goodness Mark has an appointment today with the pediatrician. I'm not sure I can take another night tonight.
We went down to Williamsburg to do some outlet shopping and to meet with our financial advisor-- and Mark got sick on the way down. Traffic was bad in West Point, VA (been to West Point? It seems like it's population 200-- but they are constructing a new bridge that stopped traffic for what had to be two miles. The two vehicles in front of us actually got in an accident-- sorry to the Saturn that hit the Beemer...) and Mark started screaming mid-traffic jam.
When we got to the outlet mall, Phil saw a spot open up and zipped in. Unfortunately, there had been two ladies in two different vehicles waiting for the same spot-- who we honestly didn't see. They proceeded to stop and berate us for our rudeness.
Then we started shopping and Mark was not happy with his stroller. The whining in LL Bean turned to crying in Gap (and everything echoes in a Gap outlet) which turned to full screaming and body flailing in Ralph Lauren.
We made our hasty exit to get down to our hotel room-- where Mark power-napped for two hours, screamed for two, restlessly napped for two, screamed for two, and so on. What we needed was Baby Vicks (had it but in the frustration didn't remember it) and a humidifier (I don't believe that humidifiers are amenities offered by the front desk).
We came home yesterday. Since he was at home, the night went better, right? Ha, ha. We actually called our health care's 24 hour nurse hotline at 3:15 A.M.
Thank goodness Mark has an appointment today with the pediatrician. I'm not sure I can take another night tonight.
Monday, October 30, 2006
All brought on by Ben Folds...
As I was growing up, my mom cleaned houses. Even though I was a working class kid, I knew many of the upper middle class kids in my hometown because my mom would bring me along as she cleaned houses on 'snob hill' (aka Ridgeroad). My first paycheck came from when I substituted for my mom and cleaned a dentist office. My first steady job was when I cleaned hotel rooms where my mom was the Assistant Manager of Housekeeping. I cleaned hotel rooms throughout high school and college.
I hated every single minute of cleaning rooms. Perhaps hated is too light a word for what I felt-- despised? Loathed?
Whatever. My goal in life was to be able to afford to pay someone to clean my house. Weird benchmark of success, perhaps. But as I kick back with my glass of wine, I consider myself to be rockin' the suburbs (okay, exurbs) as I sit in my house that is freshly cleaned by someone other than myself.
Life is good.
I hated every single minute of cleaning rooms. Perhaps hated is too light a word for what I felt-- despised? Loathed?
Whatever. My goal in life was to be able to afford to pay someone to clean my house. Weird benchmark of success, perhaps. But as I kick back with my glass of wine, I consider myself to be rockin' the suburbs (okay, exurbs) as I sit in my house that is freshly cleaned by someone other than myself.
Life is good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)